The talking machine world (Jan-June 1928)

Profit Wmm$ Sates Wrinkles United Music Co. in Ad. Lists Satisfied Customers — Plan Your Promotion Campaign Now for Coming Year — Photographs of Recording Artists Used in Display — Personal Touch Used in Announcing Record Releases — Include Quality of Radio Talent in Sales Talk Nearly every dealer will admit that one of the most satisfactory means of increasing business is through the recommendations of satisfied customers. This word-of-mouth advertising counts for far more than does the printed word, and there are many music stores which give a major share of the reasons for success to this method. Another method of utilizing the good will which your customers bear toward you was recently illustrated by the United Music Co., of Brockton, Mass., and other cities in New England. This company used a twopage advertisement in the Brockton leading newspaper to tell the merits of the StrombergCarlson line of radio receivers. One page of the advertisement was given over to illustrating and describing the complete new line' of Stromberg-Carlson A. C. receivers; the second page read: "Over $200,000 worth of StrombergCarlsons in Brockton and vicinity purchased from the United Music Co. Through the kind permission of these happy friends we list their names as members of the great StrombergCarlson family." Then followed a list of between 375 and 400 owners of Stromberg-Carlson sets. Publishing names in this manner if certain to secure attention. The readers of the newspapers, with average human curiosity, will look to see if any of their friends are listed, and a certain amount of human interest appeal is engendered. Plan Now for 1928 Now that the holiday season is past and the new year is well under way the time is ripe for the dealer to get busy on some follow-up sales promotion. Those people who purchased talking machines of various kinds just preceding the holidays are excellent prospects for records. This is the kind of repeat business that spells prosperity for the merchant. It keeps the cash rolling in, and what dealer cannot make use of ready cash. Then, too, there are the prospects developed during the holiday shopping period. Intensive cultivation at this time should prove resultful in making the early months of the present year very satisfactory from a business standpoint. Advertise, circularize and get your men out in the field to make the most of every sales possibility. There is no sound reason why the retail merchant should sit back simply because the holiday period — the peak of business during the year — is past. Because there is a natural tendency on the part of the public to refrain from making purchases immediately after Christmas the need for increased aggressiveness by the dealer becomes mote imperative. Photos for Display The advantage of having photographs of recording artists is demonstrated by the Tolzier Music Store, of Amarilla, Tex. The ac Unusual Brunswick Window companying illustration shows how effectively this aggressive music dealer has used artists' photographs to make a most attractive window display. His order of arrangement is well balanced, as he shows almost every class of artist, from the dance orchestra to the concert violinist. Then, too, his display of the Panatrope is attractive. The stage of display with the artist, the finished record and then the Panatrope for reproduction, is very complete. The Tolzier Music Store reports a large increase in its record and instrument sales, due to this attractive display. Re: Record Releases In announcing the latest releases to your customers do you simply send them the booklet provided by the manufacturers, or do you send a personal or semi-personal letter suggesting that several of the selections are particularly desirable? A suggested record or two might help quicken the interest of the customer and result in sales which might not materialize from the mere reading of a printed list. The following letter sent out to the mailing list of the Eberhardt Music Co., of Wichita, Kans., by Jane Barth, of the record department, is an excellent example of this point. It reads: Deaf Customer: "Thinking," No. 710-D, by Art Gillham, one of the most remarkable records ever recorded. Get this record, put it on your phonograph some evening, and as you listen to it, a beautiful picture will come to mind. A lonely man is sitting by the fireside smoking his pipe and gazing dreamily into the flame. It is raining outside, and he is sitting there thinking, just thinking, that's all. Do you think when you're lonesome? Do you? Hear Art Gillham in "Thinking" and you will have heard a record never to be forgotten. It will always linger in your memory. We are listing a few other new Columbia records that we would like to have you hear: No. 1099-D, "When Day Is Done," pipe organ, by Milton Charles. No. 1107-D, "You Went Away Too Far," by the Sunflower Girl of WBAP — she's fine. No. 1109-D, "Ooh, Maybe It's You" (Ah, Peude Que Seas Tu), (Ziegfeld Follies of 1927), by Harry Reser and His Syncopators. No. 109&VD, "Just Once Again," by Paul Ash and His Orchestra. No. 1101-D, "Dearer Than All" by Rodeheaver and Doe, This is a beautiful sacred duet. No. 140-M, "For Tliee," soprano solo, by Barbara Maurel. We are enclosing our November bulletin and feel sure there will be some records among this list you would like to hear, and we are looking forward to the pleasure of playing your favorites for you. We appreciate your patronage and are always glad to serve you. You are welcome at Eberhardt's. Just a few steps north of the Lassen Hotel. Sell Entertainment During the past few months the broadcast programs from practically every station have shown continued improvement. Great corporations such as General Motors, Standard Oil and a host of others have added radio broadcasting to their mediums of advertising and publicity, and they are sponsoring programs of internationally known artists. How many dealers have incorporated into their selling talks reference to the new arrivals on the air? When you are selling a prospect do you merely refer vaguely to the great entertainment features, or can you mention several of the artists who are being heard? Also remember that the two conventions to select candidates for the presidency of the United States will be held within the next five months and both promise to be exciting and of interest to radio listeners everywhere. Use foresight, prepare a direct-mail communication telling of the good things in store during 1928, and see if selling entertainment will not prove a better argument than merely selling a radio receiver without visualizing its capabilities. Plan Store Concerts During this month talking machines and radio dealers should plan a definite program of exploitation and promotion for the coming year. The mediums which have proved most effective in stimulating business during the past should be given greater attention, and means not yet tried should be given an opportunity of proving their worth. Store concerts of record releases, a method which in the past proved profitable for dealers all over the country, should be given a trial. At intervals of between two or three weeks invite a number of your customers to the store for a record concert. Select the program carefully, varying the types of music so that the entertainment will be neither too heavy nor too light, and see if the increase in record sales does not more than offset the time, trouble and money expended. ' DEALERS— Ail the signs point to a BIQ SALE of radio instru* ments in 1928 RE-ALLOCATION of wave lengths, synchronization of stations and clearing of broadcasting channels forecast a banner sales year for reliable radio instruments. The rapidly increasing sale of Weston instruments over all other makes indicates a wider extension of radio knowledge and the recognized need for instruments of the highest quality and most dependable performance. Professional and home set builders, service experts, manufacturing and laboratory engineers and amateur station operators know by experience that "Westons" give the best service. Inferior substitutes, at whatever price, are Model 519 Radio Set Tester generally unreliable and useless. Tie in with Weston Service and enjoy the profit-making, quick turnover advantages oi handling the Weston line— for forty years the world's precision standards. We suggest your consideration of the models shown here. Dealers everywhere find they meet an exact need. Your jobber will supply you and help you select the most popular ranges. WESTON ELECTRICAL INSTRUMENT CORPORATION 190 Frelinghuysen Ave., Newark, N. J. A.C. and D.C. 2" and 3V4" Panel Instruments 26